Premier League Player of the Month
has received the most Player of the Month awards alongside Steven Gerrard, with five.|alt=A young man with short hair in red football kit standing before the starting of a football match]] The Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best Premier League player each month of the season. The recipient is chosen by a panel assembled by the League's sponsor, and announced alongside the Manager of the Month on the first or second Friday of the following month. It has been called the Carling Premiership Player of the Month (1994–2001), the Barclaycard Premiership Player of the Month (2001–2004) and presently it is the Barclays Player of the Month. The Premier League was formed in 1992, when the members of the First Division resigned from The Football League. These clubs then set up a new commercially independent league that negotiated its own broadcast and sponsorship agreements. The inaugural season had no sponsor until Carling agreed to a four-year deal for £12 million that started the following season. Carling introduced new Manager of the Month and Manager of the Season awards for the 1993–94 season, supplementing the existing Football Writers' Association and Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year awards. For the 1994–95 season they introduced the Player of the Month award, which was first awarded to Jürgen Klinsmann for his performances in August 1994. Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney have been Player of the Month the most with five awards each. Three players have won the award in consecutive months; Robbie Fowler in 1995–96, Dennis Bergkamp in 1997, and Cristiano Ronaldo in 2006. Six individuals have won two awards in a season: Ryan Giggs, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Thierry Henry, Wayne Rooney, Peter Odemwingie and Ashley Young, who is also the only player to win the award three times in a calendar year. Robbie Keane has won the award while playing for three different clubs (Coventry City, Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur). Eight other players have won the award playing for two different clubs. The award has been shared on five occasions: by Blackburn Rovers's Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton in November 1994, Liverpool's Robbie Fowler and Stan Collymore in January 1996, Southampton's Kevin Davies and Manchester United's Andy Cole in November 1997, Arsenal's Dennis Bergkamp and Edu in February 2004, and by Tottenham Hotspur strikers Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane in April 2007. Almost half of the Player of the Month awards have gone to English players,79 English wins, 170 awards: = % and the majority of foreign winners have been French. Manchester United has had more Player of the Month awards than any other club, and most of the winners have come from the "Big Four" teams.30 Manchester United wins, 26 Arsenal wins, 16 Liverpool wins, 15 Chelsea wins, 170 awards: = % , the most recent recipient of the award is Belgian midfielder Marouane Fellaini who plays for Everton. Winners , who won the first Player of the Month award in August 1994|alt=Head and shoulders of a man wearing an open-collar light blue shirt and a navy blue fleece. He has short blonde hair, blue eyes, and stubble.]] , four-time Player of the Month between 2006 and 2008|alt=Head and torso of a man wearing a red long-sleeved football shirt. He is in front of a crowded stand of fans.]] , the first Welshman to have been Player of the Month|alt=The upper body of a man in a red coat. He has black hair and is holding a large silver trophy.]] Multiple winners The below table lists those who have won on more than one occasion. Awards won by position As of 11 December 2012 Awards won by nationality :As of 11 December 2012 Awards won by club :As of 11 December 2012 Footnotes References Category:English football trophies and awards Player of the Month ar:لاعب الشهر في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز لكرة القدم de:Fußballer des Monats (England) es:Anexo:FA Premier League Player of the Month fr:Joueur du mois du Championnat d'Angleterre de football ko:프리미어리그 이 달의 선수상 it:FA Premier League Player of the Month ja:プレミアリーグ月間最優秀選手 no:Premier League Player of the Month pl:Premier League Player of the Month ru:Игрок месяца английской Премьер-лиги sk:Hráč mesiaca FA Premier League tr:Premier League Ayın Oyuncusu uk:Гравець місяця англійської Прем'єр-ліги